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SENT BY: SRC; 2- 5-99 3:27PM; 6122969441 -> <br />\\S‘ lli'ilmiiy 12 .n:«v.vmnu ivachcd <br />#2/5 <br />hnp;.V\v\vw.\vctrihcuiii'Mi'iieN iluiiHl.i\/n()|n2(MIvs»Yiv htin <br />riic iwt>-liine highway that spills into a six-lane freeway in the <br />western suburbs of the I win Cities, carries 22,50» cars a day. <br />Between I9‘>3 and 1998. 22 people died in car accidents on <br />the highway. <br />"I believe the discussion has gone on far, far too long," <br />Johnson said, urging Litchfield city olTicials to drop their <br />opposition to a Higliway 12 bypass around their city. <br />He said the Idea that a highw'ay through town is gixid for <br />bu.sine^s i.s a misconception. He said travelers on route to the <br />Twin Cities stop along the w'ay only to deal with the <br />"necessities of life," not to shop <br />While Johnson welcomed the tentative agreement between <br />l.ong I akc, Orono and Wayzata. he said there was a need to <br />speed up the project. <br />" file tune has come to move ahead and get it d*.tne," said <br />Johnson, a Lutheran pastor. "As Moses once said. *Lci niy <br />people go.’" <br />Ken Warner, president of the Wilhnar Area Chamber of <br />Commerce, said pctiplc in Wilhnar were not demanding a <br />four-lane highway out of the fwin ('ities <br />"We have simply asked for a safe, 10-ton highway." Warner <br />said. "'I he highway is important to the economic viability of <br />our community. Forty-nine yeius is long cnougli to study and <br />delay this vital transportation link." <br />•Mike Bash, the new mayor of Long Lake, agreed that the <br />issue should have been dealt with years ago. <br />Highway 12 is not only a major ea.st-west transportation link, <br />he said, it is also Long Lake's Main Street. It is a roadway that <br />doe.s '^oi work, he said. <br />* have been arguing about Highway 12 all my life," Rash <br />s;*4Cl. "It should have been solved .^5 years ago. Shame on my <br />Ibrefalhers for not doing it. because it would have been easier <br />then." <br />Orono Mayor Gabriel Jabbour said the project has reached a <br />point where houses are being bought for right-of-way <br />acquisition. <br />A MnDOT official said the project appeared to be on the <br />verge of a resolution. <br />"I know a great deal more today about Highway 12 and its <br />future than I did 48 hours ago." Johnson said <br />2 ot .*2. .S vv i ’« I’M